Reimagining the Examen App Reviews

This app, based on the classic and timeless Examen of Ignatius, is flexible and connects with everyday life, feelings, challenges and blessings to come inspire and encourage the seeker.

A fine app, very nicely done. If you choose to USE it, however, it becomes an AWESOME leverage to move you praying along in a fantastic way. I highly recommend it to anyone in any flavor of Christianity.

This is a great spiritual app! There are lots of variations you can select depending on your days events. You can customize the background sounds too. In all, this is a prayerful way to reflect on Gods gifts of the day and identify the challenges and the graces needed. I highly recommend this app!

I really enjoy this app. Im a bit lazy with prayer, but I find myself excited to pray through it each night. It has led me into deep prayer and connection with God. Highly recommend it!

This app is wonderful--Simple to use with many varieties to fit your mood or day. It helps keep me focused on the posts of the examen especially out in public where it is harder to pray (or when my mind is especially "frisky"). Its a button to push when the need to do something on my phone is there. Ive even handed it to my teens on occasion when I could tell they were bored--they liked it! Thank you!

This is a great app to creatively engage with God and keep up a good prayer practice. These examens deepen ones relationship with God by exploring different dimensions of ones spiritual life. The app itself is a very convenient and helpful reminder to seek God in all things. Great work!

Selection of new examen is unresponsive. I tap the selection, it momentarily highlights. Have to keep tapping the screen...not sure what actually gets the new examen to appear or if it is just very slow. One of two of the texts that I did get to have what I think are easily avoidable uses of male pronoun for God. Will check back in a few weeks to see if improvements made. Not something Id bother with in its current state. (Tested in iPad mini and iPad both with 9.2)

This app is great. The navigation can be a little slow for selecting a version of the Examen but the content is great! I have found this app to be very helpful for prayer. I like both the options to focus on a specific area to pray about and the sound/music options. Praying with this app strikes a nice balance that would be somewhere between a guided prayer service and preparing material on my own. One question for Loyola Press … is there any chance that an app or e-book for the book “Hearts on Fire” could be created? That’s another resource that I think many would find helpful.

This app has made praying the examen prayer so much easier and richer.

Did the new update eliminate the music? Or am I just missing it?

This app is yay! I feel Ignatius coming inside of me. Very spiritual

Missed on both.

I really love this app, but when I opened it today it has lost many of the visual features that the app had before. Pictures and background music. Can someone please explain. Thank you and God bless you!

Where did the option for music go?

My mind often skitters during prayerful reflection and this app has helped me greatly to focus. Even tempts me to try different options later to reconnect with Him. Thank you very much.

Love the app but the music is difficult to change despite touching my choice and it also plays continually, even when the app is closed.

There are some lovely variations on the examen here, but I find the exclusively male pronouns for God distracting and very much a barrier.

I tried for years to make the EXAMEN part of my prayer life but could “never find the time”. This leads me through a prayer process I can do anywhere, any time. Waiting in line. Before lunch. It quickly guides me into self-reflection, gratitude, awareness of God’s movement in my life and a desire for a closer relationship. I now put a reminder on my phone and open myself up to grace.

I have really found this app to be very helpful to my prayer life (uh… when I remember to use it. You know how it is with spiritual practices.) However, one thing I used to love was the feature that allowed for a random Examen to pop up. For me, it was great to sit with whatever the app (the Spirit??) threw my way. When I have to choose a topic, I find that doing so is ME shaping my prayer in a way that is less helpful. Is there a way to access the random function anymore? Thanks…

Tried using tonight after mentioning to prayer team. Launched but could not move pages.

I’ve loved this app for quite some time as a little variety here and there is so helpful for my examen time. With the latest update, I don’t have to worry about losing my place when my phone autolocks so I can really focus on my time with God without paying so much attention to my phone. I can enter into long periods of prayer between pages without lugging around a book. Fantastic app and so grateful for the latest update!

The concept is great however, the app has several shortcomings. If your phone falls asleep, when you wake it up seconds later, you will be in a new lesson. It also seems that there is some sound associated with this app but I am unable to determine how to turn the sound on. When I click the speaker, it changes to a “muted” symbol. When I unmute it… no sound. Volume is up. Bluetooth is off. Not intuitive or simply buggy. I have an iPhone 13 Pro OS 16.0.3

This has been a great help to me.

I have really had good reflections while reading these and contemplating my response. I love the variety of catagoties offered. The only problem with the app is that it turns off too soon. If I sit and reflect without touching the screen it turns off and sends me to the home page or a totally different examen. There is no picking up where you left off—and this is distracting—breaking the train of thought as I have to go and search for the title and page I was previously on.

This app is amazing and great if you don’t have the attention span for a full Examen. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE fix it so you can go to another app and it doesn’t cut off. It’s very annoying.

Needs only one thing: set time per section so I don’t get rushed or lose myself

I have been using this app regularly for the past 6-7 months, and it’s contributed a lot to my relationship with the Lord to have this regular time of prayer and reflection each day. The questions get me to think about things that I wouldn’t otherwise, and I love the wide variety of options and how you can either do the Examen that automatically pops up or choose one from the list. It’s a meaningful and rich way to end my day, as opposed to scrolling through the news or social media before bed, which is what I was in the habit of doing before. There are two technical aspects of the app that I’d love to see tweaked. First, since most people likely use the app at night before going to sleep, it would be fantastic to have a night mode with a darker background and light text. The background is really bright, even with the brightness on my screen turned as low as it can go. Second, as others have said, if you spend too long thinking or praying through any one question, your phone will probably go to sleep, and the app doesn’t keep your place. When I wake my phone up to continue, the app has moved on to another Examen and I have to remember the name of the one I was on, find it in the list, and swipe through to the page I was on. It would be great if the app would stay on the same Examen until closed out or you push an option to have it select a new one. Overall, though, I love this app! Thank you for making it and making it available!

This app is beautifully designed in helping one examine their conscience daily. It provides many topics to meditate upon or it randomly selects a topic upon opening the app. Very nice. The iPhone X has no issues accessing all the features available. This Examen app is an excellent tool in setting the tone for my day or blessing me with a sense of peace in the evening.

I used the app for the first time today after it sat on my phone unused for a bit. I was having a pretty moving experience with the prompts initially. But then I read one of the prompts and noticed the use of the he/him/his pronouns for God. I tried to move past it, but I couldn’t. When I’m engaging with a prayer tool that is meant to help me feel the presence of God, I have a really hard time with exclusive language. It severs that connection for me. Everyone has a different vision of God, and I think the app would be more transformative for some if it acknowledged this through the use of inclusive language for God.

I have been trying off and on for years to pray the examen consistently and never succeeding. The book of Reimagining the Examen was the best resource I had found but still not quite what I needed. The app is perfect. I like the way it walks me through step by step, and I like the flexibility to take its suggestion of a specific examen or select my own choice . Having it on my phone is convenient to encourage me to pray at bedtime instead of randomly scrolling.

I love the music and prompts! ⭐️ I wish it was made available for Androids, so my friends could use it too!!!! ⭐️

Really like the content, and have used it with my son to help guide him through daily life struggles together. Also very beneficial to use as journal prompt guides. That being said, I gave it 3 for two reasons. The main one is that I cannot get any audio sounds to play on my iPhone 8 while in the App. Would love to hear the Ocean/Beach sounds that I chose in “Settings” while I read & Journal in the App. If someone can get this figured out, I’ll gladly change my rating to a 5. The last reason for the 3 is because I wish all the Examens could be sorted/organized by various categories or topics. Reading them all in one long random list isn’t user-friendly to my categorical-minded brain.

I enjoy the prompts however if I am in a meditation mode and my window closes, the app moves me to a new daily reflection. There is nothing in the drop down that will allow me to return to the Examen I was currently working on.

I was recently introduced to Examen prayers and was happy to find your app when looking for more information. I am grateful for the variety of prompts. My one suggestion is to adapt the app so ones own music could be chosen over the preloaded (which I find distracting)...even if I mute the app, it does not allow itunes to play simultaneously from the same device. Otherwise, kudos on this app! Many thanks for developing it.

Does anyone know why the music will not work? I like everything about this app though. I love the variety of emphasis in it.

A genuinely prayerful tool to look back over the day to see where God is speaking and leading.

Wanna change your life? Use this app.

I don’t like when I’m taught about God as much as other subjects so when I was forced to download this since I do confirmation. Now I don’t use it at all

My go to prayer app for every night

I love the different songs and sounds, and the amount of different reflections is extensive. A big thank you to those who poured their energy, skill and creativity into this app. It has been such a great tool and blessing in my own pursuit of God and I know I will be recommending it to all of my friends.

Background music doesn’t play on iPhone X

I love this app! I stumbled upon it totally by accident when I did a Google search for the Examen steps. It’s now the only thing I’ll use for my examination of conscience. Whenever I’d do the Examen on my own I felt my spiritual wheels spinning - I kept focusing on the same points of gratitude and the same vague sins. The prompts in this app are so insightful that I often find myself in tears by the end and I feel spiritually stronger - or maybe more attuned is a better description. Praise God for this app, those who created it, and those who will use it.

Thank you for having different sized fonts. Even better would be to have the words spoken. Please consider that in the future.

I love this app, and include it in my weekly prayer rhythm. It's lovely, well designed, engaging, and really helps me to connect with God and grow as a Christian person. My frustration is a technical one: the app screen closes automatically and my iPhone locks after only a very short time, so I keep having to interrupt my prayer to put on a password! Other prayer apps are set to stay open while in use--this little design tweak would take it to 5 stars for sure.

I love this app! I have more than one examen app, But this is the one I’m using to pray most. I enjoy music/background sounds and the invitations to take everything in my life to God in prayer.

I’ve been familiar with the Examen for years, but this app brought a freshness to it. So easy to use and a great way to learn the Examen. My only criticism is that the music choice changes with each Examen and has to be reset. It’s a distraction. I would like to be able to set my choice before I open a particular Examen and have it stick!

I’ve tried to make the typestyle larger or bolder; not meeting my needs. Sorry

My college age son told me about this app and I’ve been using it for about a year now. I love it! It draws me closer to God and helps me mature and discuss life with Him. I usually use it at the end of the day, around 4 or 5:00. Thank you for making this app! I have also made an app (called I Deserve a Donut and other lies that make you eat) so I know how much work it is! I appreciate you guys!

I just started doing the Examen when my aunt recommended this app to me, and I could not be more grateful for it! I love the different types of examens and the ease of use. Praise God!

A fine app, very nicely done. If you choose to USE it, however, it becomes an AWESOME leverage to move you praying along in a fantastic way. I highly recommend it to anyone in any flavor of Christianity. ~~~ Update: after 1 year w/o a cell phone, this was the 1st app I installed. Sooo nice to have it back. It's even better when I use it!

Fantastic app but the requirement to stare at a glowing phone distracts from focusing and centering. Please add narration of the steps.

This has got to be one of the best apps out there. It has been a blessing in my life. I truly recommend it for anyone wanting to deepen their prayer life.

This is a fantastic resource; I love all the different takes on the examen and find them each individually inspiring. However, having to look at a screen and having to manually go to the next step both are very disruptive to my prayer. Having the option of a narration mode would be a game changer and would lead me to use this app daily.

This is a beautiful walk through the examen prayer!

I suggest it regularly to my undergraduate students, not all of whom are catholic or even religious, as a way of starting to make sense of their days and their lives.

You have several ways to do The Examen, depending on what you really need and seek. It would be amazing to have this app in other languages...

Great app. It keeps the examen fresh and inviting. You find yourself examining areas of your life that you might not have considered.

K den dis app tho